May 2014 NPD: PS4 stays ahead of Xbox One as Watch Dogs, Mario Kart lead sales

Sales tracking firm The NPD Group has released its latest sales report for the US videogame industry, this time for May 2014, revealing that overall revenue generated during the month reached $586 million, a 52% improvement compared to May 2013, across hardware, software and accessories categories, driven by the continued success of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as new games like Watch Dogs and Mario Kart 8.

May 2014 Software Sales

During the month of May 2014 in the US, videogame software revenue increased by 57% in the console sector compared to the year previous, up to $274 million (or $284 million taking PC game sales into account).

The top ten list of best-selling games was headed up by Watch Dogs at No. 1, with Mario Kart 8, MLB 14: The Show, Wolfenstein: The New Order and Minecraft making up the rest of the top five.

NPD analyst Liam Callahan wrote in the report:

“Collectively, May 2014 launches sold 800 percent more in dollar sales than May 2013 launches did their respective launch months. New launches represented 50 percent of dollar sales this month, which compared to only 9 percent for new launches in May 2013.”

May 2014 Hardware Sales

Videogame hardware sales were up an impressive 95% in May 2014, climbing to revenue of $187 million as PlayStation 4 maintained its lead, becoming the best-selling console for the month in the US for the fifth time in a row.

NPD’s Callahan noted that the Wii U and PS Vita both enjoyed year-over-year sales growth in May with Mario Kart 8 and the Borderlands 2 bundle helping the respective consoles.

Publisher Responses

PlayStation continues to be the best place to play for innovative IP, as PS4 was the preferred platform for May’s biggest releases, including Watch Dogs and Wolfenstein: The New Order, and held four of the top five spots for next gen software sales. PS4 is the leading next-gen platform for sports, highlighted in May by the best-selling sports game, MLB 14: The Show.

Microsoft hasn’t yet responded to the latest NPD report making it the first time the company hasn’t acknowledged the numbers in years, breaking its own tradition of getting out ahead of NPD’s report with facts and figures of its own.

Notably, on May 13th Microsoft announced its decision to provide an Xbox One bundle without Kinect starting on June 9th, which will definitely affect sales of the console for the month as consumers decided to wait until the lower priced bundle became available. June’s NPD report will be much more reflective of Xbox One sales in the US.